Chance the Rapper leaves little to chance

Chance the Rapper performs at Manifest, held at Columbia College, earlier this month. (Hilary Higgins/RedEye)

Chance the Rapper is going to make sure he gets this right: rap music, a pop-star ascent from Chicago, a record deal, that whole fame thing — and on his own terms.

Chance, whose full name is Chancelor Bennett, has been drawing increasingly large and enthusiastic audiences since he released his upbeat debut mixtape, "10 Day," last spring. An instant success, the tape catapulted Chance into touring with Childish Gambino (perhaps better known as actor and comedian Donald Glover, of NBC's "Community"), headlining sold-out shows at prominent local venues like Lincoln Hall and Metro, taking meetings with major record labels and earning the ears of such prominent musical acts as Kendrick Lamar and James Blake.

The momentum has continued to grow not only locally, where Chance, 20, has the city at his fingertips, but nationally as well. The April 30 release of his latest mixtape, "Acid Rap," twice shut down the servers of popular Chicago rap blog Fake Shore Drive and attracted 50,000 downloads within the first 24 hours.

A melodic, idiosyncratic work blurring the line between hip-hop and pop, "Acid Rap" is purposefully open-ended, its tone equal parts celebratory and thoughtful. As the title hints, two of the creative influences behind the release were the mind-expanding effects of psychedelic drugs and the acid-jazz compositions of artists like Jamiroquai and Roy Ayers, somewhat uncommon reference points for a rapper. Praise upon its release was immediate and widespread.

The project was also meticulously assembled on Chance's own terms, without the help of a record label and in many places favoring lesser-known local artists over higher-profile collaborators. As he noted in an interview at the Humboldt Park studio where he was adding the mixtape's finishing touches, his primary interest is in making sure the story of his music makes sense, which has meant occasionally sacrificing short-term gains in the interest of a long-term vision.

"He just wants to go left field," explained Caleb James, a friend and fellow member of Chicago artistic collective Save Money. "He doesn't want to go the normal way, like 'getting a single made.' He's not really that type of person."

Instead, Chance is resolute about having a career narrative that people can identify with. Last summer, as the broader Chicago hip-hop scene was gaining a national profile and many local artists landed major-label record deals, Chance was approached about signing as well. For many young artists, signing such a contract is often treated as a critical milestone or even as the primary objective in pursuing a music career. Chance chose to consider how the offer might complement his eventual goals.

"I really wanted to sign last year," he said, adding, "It took me a moment to step back and be like, 'I can tell this story better.'"

The story, as it exists so far, begins with Chance's 10-day suspension from his high school in 2011, the South Loop's Jones College Prep, after being caught smoking marijuana off-campus. Already a fixture within a music, spoken word and performing arts scene centered at the Harold Washington Library's YOUMedia youth center, Chance conceived of a project that would involve making a song during each day of his suspension and releasing the results as a mixtape. It ultimately took around a year for the project to come together, but the suspension served as the origin for several songs and remained a thematic inspiration.

When Chance graduated high school (also in 2011) he wanted to pursue music, despite his parents' urging that he go to college. He spent the summer burning copies of a five-song demo CD called "5 Day," which he would hand out or try to sell for whatever people would give him in front of the Columbia College dorms. The CD, labeled with the rapper's Twitter handle, served as a business card of sorts, helping him build a small social media following and meet more people in the local music scene.

Even as his profile has risen, Chance has largely maintained the approachability borne of that experience, and he remains an enthusiastic booster of his peers. Outgoing and easy to relate to, he greets new people without pretense and apologizes for name-dropping when he talks about the well-known artists he's been working with.

"I've just always tried to be not just humble but (to) put forth effort to make things easier for other people," he said. "That's just the type of people I like, regardless of what your job is."

His promotional model, like much of his work, continues to be rooted in inclusiveness. To advertise shows and sell tickets, Chance has made impromptu visits to local high schools to talk to students. For a show at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he made arrangements for Chicago fans to ride down and back with him in one of two school buses. Pat Corcoran, his 23-year-old manager, highlighted Chance's willingness to do things like join fans for pizza or stop by a fraternity party after tour dates.